Kenya Launches Nationwide Crackdown on Corrupt HR Officers Over Payroll and Promotion Fraud
Kenya Public Service Cabinet Secretary (CS) Geoffrey Ruku
The government has embarked on a nationwide crackdown on corrupt HR officers over payroll and promotion Frauds in public service involved in payroll manipulation, unauthorized promotions, and tax evasion committed schemes.
The crackdown was announced by Public Service Cabinet Secretary (CS) Geoffrey Ruku who said that civil servants caught engaging in such fraudulent acts will be subject to an immediate fire and dismissed out of service and prosecuted. The process starts this week after a thorough audit was conducted that showed that there was a rooted malpractice and collusion between some HR officers in both the national and county governments.
In an address in Embu on the weekend, Ruku revealed that during the audit, it emerged that various human resource officers manipulated the official records of the public servants, in an attempt to illegally prolong their stay in the government. He observed that in most cases, officers had altered birth dates of employees in records to put off retirement.
The CS criticized the practice as an outright abuse of office stating that it erodes meritocracy, transparency and fairness in the public service. He once again reinstated the governments resolve to bring back honesty in civil service management and that this malpractice will no longer be accepted.
Ruku disclosed that the audit had also found out the HR personnel who had enabled illegal tax exemptions to some individuals resulting to massive loss of revenue by the state. According to him, some officers were found to have conspired with beneficiaries to avoid paying taxes by illegally modifying the systems.
He claimed his ministry had witnessed alarming trends that involved the HR officials with corrupt minds were freezing official records to enable them to keep in employment people who had long overstated the legal retirement age or they were avoiding taxation. He stressed that any party who was implicated in such fraudulent activities would be prosecuted and the law enforced fully against him.
Also, the audit pointed to instances of job group manipulation where some civil servants were promoted or assigned to higher pay grades irregularly without due process. Ruku also noted that these practices have led to an over bloated public pay bill and discourage honest officers who take the right way up the promotion ladder.
To overcome these fears, the CS assured that the ministry will collaborate with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and other interested government organizations to investigate, punish, and charge those who will be found guilty. He emphasized that such cooperation of agencies will be the guaranty of the responsibility of the public servants and provide security to the money of taxpayers.
Ruku also mentioned that it is also under investigation in terms of payroll fraud, ghost workers, irregular promotions, and unauthorized allowances. He guaranteed that the government is resolute to purify the system and establish a civil service that is based on merit and professionalism.
The crackdown is one of the most vigorous anti-corruption measures in the Kenyan public services in the recent years, which is an indication that the government is once again determined to check graft and to bring back efficiency in the governmental administration.
